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POP NOTES
A REAL LULU
The announcement earlier this year of a collabo-
ration between Lou Reed and Metallica was met
with everything from excitement to horror to un-
controllable giggling. The news that the album
would be based on Frank Wedekind's Lulu plays-
a pair of taboo-smashing works from the fin de
siècle about the rise and fall of a highly sexual
young woman-only intensified reactions at both
ends of the spectrum, as did Reed's assertion that
the album, "Lulu" (Warner Bros.), was the "best
thing I ever did."
"Brandenburg Gate" opens the album with
an acoustic guitar, not typical for a Metallica rec-
ord. Enter Lou, singing as his female protagonist:
"I would cut my legs and tits off when I think of
Boris Karloff and Kinski in the dark of the moon."
The band then lumbers in, Lars Ulrich pummel-
ling the drums as James Hetfield repeatedly yowls
"small-town girl." That's the recipe for much of
the record: Reed's willfully prosaic poetry, the
band in full grind, Hetfield singing the hook. On
"The View," Reed employs the Dylan billow,
making the most of his one-note range by puff-
ing up certain words for emphasis: "I am a cho-
rus of the voices that gather up the magnets set
before me."
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6
The album is wordy, at times monotonous, and
often gripping. Has there ever been a lyric as un-
wieldy as "I want to have you doubting every
meaning you've amassed," let alone one wielded
with such confidence? While the result may not be
easy or even possible to swallow, it rewards chew-
ing; what first seems risible becomes formidable.
"Frustration" has blood and guts and puke and
sperm, a lover with an "easel in his eyes," and Reed
giving the title lyric the full "My Generation" treat-
ment ("Fru-fru-fru-frustration!"). Songs can be un-
relenting-half go longer than eight minutes-but
toward the end of the record there's a turn into
more contemplative territory, with the poignant,
grimly funny "Little Dog" and the nineteen-minute
filial lament "Junior Dad."
The most traditional song here, "Iced Honey,"
has a count-off at the beginning and straightfor-
ward rhymes, not to mention concision and punch-
ing power. Midway through, Lou as Lulu gets to
the heart of the matter: "And me I've always been
this way / Not by choice." It's a young woman
talking about sexual immoderation, but it's sung
like an old man's manifesto.
-Ben Greenman
26 at 1, 4:10, 7:20, and 10:30 and Oct. 27 at 1
and 4:10: "The Magnificent Ambersons" (1942,
Orson Welles). . Oct. 26 at 2:40, 5:50, and 9
and Oct. 27 at 2:40 and 5:50: "Hangover Square"
(1945, John Brahm). . Oct. 27 at 7:30: "Journey
to the Center of the Earth" (1959, Henry Levin). .
Oct. 28 at 1,5:05, and 9:10: "Taxi Driver" (1976,
Martin Scorsese). . Oct. 28 at 3:05 and 7:10:
"Cape Fear" (1962, J. Lee Thompson). . Oct. 29
at 1, 3:30, 6, and 8:30: "Vertigo" (1958, Alfred
Hitchcock). . Oct. 30 at 1, 4:55, and 8:50: "The
Day the Earth Stood Still" (1951, Robert Wise). .
Oct. 30 at 2:45 and 6:40: "The Birds" (1963, Al-
fred Hitchcock). . Oct. 31 at 1, 4:50, and 8:40:
"Psycho" (1960, Alfred Hitchcock). + Nov. 1 at
1, 4:35, and 8:10: "The 7th Voyage of Sinbad"
(1958, Nathan Juran). . Nov. 1 at 2:40, 6:15,
and 9:50: "Jason and the Argonauts" (1963, Don
Chaffey) .
FILM SOCIETY OF LINCOLN CENTER
Walter Reade Theatre, Lincoln Center (212-875-
5610)-"Scary Movies 5." Oct. 29 at 5:15: "Pol-
tergeist" (1982, Tobe Hooper). . Oct. 30 at 1:15
and Oct. 31 at 4:30: "House of Usher" (1960,
Roger Corman). . Oct. 30 at 3: "The Seventh
Victim" (1943, Mark Robson). . Oct. 30 at 4:45:
"Eye of the Cat" (1969, David Lowell Rich). +
Oct. 30 at 9:30: "Re-Animator" (1985, Stuart
Gordon). . White Light Festival (screening will
be held at Alice Tully Hall). Oct. 29 at 7:30: "The
Passion of Joan of Arc" (1928, Carl Theodor
Dreyer; silent), with live musical accompaniment.
IFC CENTER
323 Sixth Ave., at \XZ 3rd St. (212-924-7771)- The
:::J films of Aki Kaurismäki. Oct. 28-30 at 11 A,M.:
æ "The Match Factory Girl" (1990; in Finnish). .
"Stranger Than Fiction." Nov. 1 at 8: "The Recon-
u struction of Asa Carter" (2010, Marco Ricci).
MUSEUM OF MODERN ART
fu Roy and Niuta TItus Theatres, 11 \XZ 53rd St. (212-
708-9480)-"An Auteurist History of Film." Oct.
26-28 at 1:30: "Black Narcissus" (1947, Michael
Powell and Emeric Pressburger). . Through Nov.
19: "To Save and Project."Oct. 26 at 4: Short films
from West Africa by Jean Rouch, including "Initi-
ation into Possession Dance" (1948). . Oct. 26 at
7: "Les HaIles Centrales" (1927, Boris Kaufman;
silent). and "Études sur Paris" (1928, André Sau-
vage; silent). . Oct. 27 at 4: "The House Is Black"
(1962, Forugh Farrokhzad; in Farsi) and "Calcutta"
(1969, Louis Malle; in French). . Oct 28 at 4 and
Oct. 31 at 8:30: "The Riviera" (1954, Alberto
La ttuada; in Italian). . Oct. 29 at 5: An ill us-
trated lecture on stereoscopic film by the film his-
torian Stefan Drössler. . Oct. 30 at 5: "Port of
Shadows" (1938, Marcel Carné; in French). +
Oct. 31 at 6: "The Overcoat" (1952, Lattuada;
in Italian).
MUSEUM OF THE MOVING IMAGE
35th Ave. at 36th St., Astoria (718-784-0077)-
"See It Big!" Oct. 28 at 7 and Oct. 30 at 4:
"Alien" (1979, Ridley Scott). . Oct. 29 at 7: "The
Shining" (1980, Stanley Kubrick).
92Y TRIBECA
200 Hudson St. (212-601-1000)- Through Nov.
16: "Flaherty NYC-Snapshots: Tourism in Cin-
ema." Oct. 26 at 7:30: Super-8 @m program, includ-
ing "Sweet Clover" (2011, Jen Heuson). . "Not
Coming to a Theatre Near You." Oct. 29 at 8:
"Fiend" (1980, Don Dohler). . Oct. 29 at 10: "So-
ciety" (1989, Brian Yuzna).
READINGS AND TALKS
POETS HOUSE
Rita Dove, the editor of "The Penguin Anthol-
ogy of Twentieth-Century American Poetry," is
joined by Elizabeth Alexander, Frank Bidart, Jo-
anna Klink, Yusef Komunyakaa, and Gerald Stern
for a reading from and a discussion of the new
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COMMUNITY TRUST L 1
THE NEW YORKER, OCTOBER 31,2011 29